As Gillan put it, we got to hear some songs not played too often. Tonight it was Bloodsucker, or rather closer to the Bludsucker version from Abandon, where Gillan doesn’t take the easy way to try to protect his voice, so lots of screaming. And it worked.

We also got Wasted Sunsets which is a perfect tune for Steve who really gets into it. Nice surprise and please keep it in the show.

The rumour said that the whole band was present and actually rehearsed during the soundcheck (true) and played bits of Hard lovin’ Man (time will tell). Over to Oslo tonight!

Roger Glover played a mean slow bass line in No One Came and Gillan put a lot of passion, humour and dynamics into it. Clearly a favourite of the band. We still get quite a selection of Made In Japan stuff, and thanks to Paicey and Glover the tracks sound fresh and interesting. People were rocking.

Don Airey really contributes nowadays with extended solos and delivering with refreshing energy. Fireball proved it and Wring that Neck is now luckily arranged with a call-and-answer section where Steve and Don get to trade licks.

I think I have mentioned most of the songs and that should tell you that the intensity was there all the way through the sold-out show. Gillan was chatting and making fun in-between songs. So highly recommended if you happen to live close to the next venues.

Intro: Dance of the Knights from Romeo and Juliet (Prokoviev). Sounds good at max. volume.

P.S.
The new “LP” as it it called should be recorded early 2010, according to a normally reliable source close to the microphone.

Per Sorensen

It had been a while since Deep Purple was doing a gig in Belgium. Standing on the first row, the atmosphere and information exchange was taking my interest level up high at the beginning of the concert.

A very dedicated nicy German lady introduced me in the wonderful world of touring with Deep Purple, their management and their families. Those stories took me in the good mood to listen to the head line up we were all waiting for.

As soon as Prokofiev’s song started, lights gone out and the show was about to begin. The set list was equal to the previous European concerts. The specials in this tour were Wasted Sunset, Contact Lost and No one came and The battle rages on.

I was very happy to hear my all time favorite Sometimes I feel like screaming. In the category of classic songs, Highway Star, Wring that neck, Maybe I’m a leo, Fireball and of course Smoke as final song before the encores.

It has been a while since I heard the voice of Ian sounding so well, even the screems were very clear and lifted the audience into good moods.

The sold out concert proves that our all time favorite band is still alive and kicking as never before, I am really happy when Ian told the audience to write & release a new album in 2010.

Many thanks to Katie for sharing the true Purple stories with me!

Wesley Vandewalle

“Intensive tasting and enjoying every single minute of a Deep Purple concert, because it always can be the last”. This was again my motto for the gig in Antwerp last Wednesday.

After the gig my feeling was that the Purps didn’t bring their best performance. Only Steve & Roger played with heart and passion and with flickering in their eyes. Don & both Ian’s played rather like good mechanics doing their job as usual.

Indeed, the set list was not bad at all with a good mix of new & old material inclusive the newcomers Wasted Sunset & No One Came but in terms of intensity we got a strong begin with Highway Star and a strong end with Space Truckin’, Smoke, Hush & Black Night but the middle didn’t bring the same excitment except the marvelous guitar master piece of Steve Morse.

In my opinion, Deep Purple is touring too much & they give too many concerts in a year. As a normal consequence there is too much routine coming up and the passion is sometimes slipping away. Also I saw tiredness in the eyes of Gillan & Paice.

As a conclusion we never can say that Deep Purple plays bad concerts but I missed this time the sparkling elements who gives their gigs something brilliant.

Till next time my great old heroes…

Mickey Moody gave an interview to RockPages.gr. Not surprisingly, good three quarters of it revolves around his days in Whitesnake:

Rockpages.gr: Did you feel a full member of Whitesnake or just a player in David Coverdale’s band?

Micky Moody: Full member, indeed. I wasn’t getting the full money, but that’s another story! The only time when I didn’t feel a full member of Whitesnake was in 1982 when David asked me to rejoin the band. I had left in late 1981, because I had had enough of the business side of things…anyway, when I returned Cozy Powell and Mel Galley were in Whitesnake…great musicians, to say the least. But, I kinda felt like a session guitar player in that line-up. We had a different management and the vibe was not the same, by any means. I don’t blame David for this decision…we weren’t making any money and he needed something better for his career. But, in that particular line-up, I was treated like a session player…it was all about David and Cozy. I didn’t enjoy that period with Whitesnake.

Read the resy of his interview at RockPages.gr

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

Birmingham show on November 13th received quite a favourable coverage in the local press.

Debbie Bennett writes in the Express & Star:

…On the third night of the band’s UK tour, 64-year-old barefoot frontman Ian Gillan belted out hits and rarities at the LG Arena last night and was loving every minute of it.

The age range of last night’s crowd was wide (I took my 12-year-old for his first taste of Purple), and the so-called bus pass holders held in awe these die-hards of rock.

Followed by Birmingham Mail:

The rock legends put in a great performance… My advice to rock fans who weren’t there — don’t miss them next time they’re in town.

Last night in Amsterdam Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule fame joined Deep Purple on stage for a jam over Black Night. Pictures and videos from the show are already surfacing:
Continue Reading »

In the anticipation of the Birmingham and London dates, Times Online has published a brilliantly eloquent piece on Deep Purple that surely will resonate in one a many hearts:

The exact date has long been wiped from the memory’s hard drive, but I can say with absolute certainty that it was a February evening in 1977. I was coming to the entirely amicable end of a three-year relationship and was on the lookout for a new romance.

It was my best mate Rob who introduced us and it was in his house that night that I found lasting love. It was a passion that was to burn brightly through the next six years and then, when I was older and thought we had both moved on, to reignite when fate threw us together again in the early 1990s. And even today the memory of the relationship still brings a nostalgic smile to my nearly 50-year-old features. It was the night I first heard Deep Purple.

Is there any love that burns more brightly than that between a teenage boy and his favourite rock group? From the moment that Ian Paice’s deceptively funky cymbals counted in Ritchie Blackmore’s ear-syringing guitar riff and Woman from Tokyo thundered out of the speakers, I was completely smitten. There was no way I was going to slink back to the doomed thing with Emerson Lake and Palmer.

Read more at Times Online.

Thanks to Stathis Panagiotopoulos for the info.

The set started with Prokofiev’s ‘Montague and Capulet’ from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and it really built the atmosphere, and then Purple burst into a really fiery version of Highway Star with Glover and Paice driving it along much faster than I can remember from Wembley in 2007.

After Gillan’s altercations with Wembley stewards during “Things I’ve never said” in 2007, it was good to see him stay on stage throughout this time. Some have criticised the inclusion of this track but is does come from the “most recent” album and it certainly rocks.

A rousing “Not responsible”, which Gillan introduced by saying “We’ve only ever played this live twice … and that was this week” they belted into Strange Kind of Woman. This was the second major test, for me, of the state of the band. It’s a regular number so could they bring something new to it … and they did – verve and enthusiasm and, most of all, fun. The interplay between Gillan, Glover and Morse was a joy.

“Wasted sunsets”, beautifully lit, came next. His voice may strain but the passion was there throughout. At last a time to pause. Gillan announced that the new song would be the title track from their “recent album” and then said that it was time they got into a studio to record a new album and mentioned that February 2010 looked likely.

I love “Rapture” (although I’d love to see “Clearly quite absurd” sometime) – it growled and flowed with Don coming to the fore more than before.

The “quiet medieval ballad” that Gillan introduced morphed into a burning version of Fireball, Paice thundering out the drum line and Glover pushing the rhythm before the pace was slowed down for the exquisite Steve Morse section. “Contact lost” was moving and very sensitive before the stunningly wonderful “Sometimes I feel like screaming.” The interplay between guitar and vocals and then the layering of sound was stunning. A rousing version of “Well dressed guitar” had us all clapping and whooping – at time I got the impression that Airey and Paice were upping the speed but Steve managed to cope and the whole place bounced.

“Wring that neck” was introduced as being written by “Dick Turpin” and it was good to hear it live after so many years. The structure remains the same but the solos were quite different from the old Lord / Blackmore days. I felt that perhaps Don and Steve weren’t in their comfort zones for this but it will develop and deserves its place if only to show off the jazzy side of Purple.

“No one came” was delivered with lashings of humour by an obviously happy Ian Gillan. The lyrics lend themselves to humour and he milked them for all they were worth.

Don’s solo was a tour de force – Lord like in its interplay between classical and rock, a little like a game set for the audience – what piece am I playing now and where will it go.

“The battle rages on” was delivered with a driving intensity – this was classic rock music, Gillan growling out the lyrics while the band thundered behind him.

“Space Truckin'” was a shortened version but Glover’s bass playing was just stunning and, with Paice, together they lay down a mighty statement – find a better drum and bass combination anywhere!

And then to the inevitable “Smoke”. We didn’t get the endless audience participation of old but everyone was singing. Morse’s solo was quicksilver while Don wove layer upon layer of sound over his.

I had hoped for “Speed king” as an encore but it was not to be. After an interesting little intro based on an old Booker T number (I think) the band launched into “Hush”. It’s a good sing along number and they seemed happy enough with it. Roger’s soloing was brilliant – inventive and technical. A rousing rendition of “Black Night” brought the evening to a close.

Three days on and how do I feel? Still up there in the clouds.

Two very minor gripes in an otherwise outstanding evening: I do like to see a drum set on a podium of some sort, if only to bring the drummer up to the level of the standing musicians – Paicey was on the level stage and seemed a little out of it at times. Also, if you’ve got one of the best drummers in the world, a 30 second solo would have been nice.

But hey, I’ve just seen the best group in the world play the best concert I’ve ever seen (or am likely to see). Don now feels a really integral part of the band (at Wembley in 2007 it seemed as if he knew where he could involve himself) – here he was right in it.

Steve Morse commanded centre and the right of the stage from where we sat, (on the front row of the balcony directly over the sound mixer’s table), Ian Paice was mighty throughout and Ian Gillan was … well Ian Gillan – funny, enthusiastic and with boundless energy. His voice is showing signs of strain but he manages really well.

But, if I have to pick out one for special mention, it must be my favourite … Roger Glover. His bass playing is more inventive and powerful than ever and he is a man apparently completely at peace with himself – a broad smile across his face, enjoying the interplay with the other band members and the audience.

Deep Purple are back. The look of stunned amazement on my 15 year old son’s face at the end of the concert said it all. He’s seen a few bands and saw Purple with me at Wembley in 07. This left him speechless. We drove back listening to Live at Olympia with wide smiles across our faces.

Oh, and the support at, The Crave, were good as well. A 4 piece band, they played six numbers competently and look good for the future.

Thank God for Deep Purple. “Something spiritual …” Indeed!

Purple were on great form last night and their set list was the best in years. There were outings for Wasted Sunsets, Wring that Neck, No One Came, and Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming along wlth the usual classics.

The evening’s surprise inclusion was Not Responsible.

Morse was on fire and we got both Contact Lost and Well Dressed Guitar. The only disappointment was that Speed King was not played as scheduled due to some over zealous security.

The PA was really loud but maybe that was because we were right at the front. Took me back to the 70s anyway.

Like a fine wine they keep getting better with age and I hope they let loose like this on the new album.

1 Intro/Highway Star
2 Things I Never Said
3 Not Responsible
4 Strange Kind Of Woman
5 Wasted Sunsets
6 Rapture Of The Deep
7 Fireball
8 Contact Lost/Steve Morse solo
9 Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
10 The Well-Dressed Guitar
11 Wring That Neck
12 No One Came
13 Don Airey solo
14 The Battle Rages On
15 Space Truckin’
16 Smoke On The Water

17 Hush
18 Black Night

I went along to this gig hoping that, for a change, it wouldn’t be a “greatest hits” show and I wasn’t disappointed.

From the opening Highway Star to the encores the band constantly surprised with their choice of material, and as the evening progressed the band got into their stride and delivered in spades.

Four numbers from the Morse/Airey era, two hidden gems from Perfect Strangers and Wring That Neck were highlights for me. The solo sections were excellent with neither Steve nor Don’s contributions being over wrought.

A word for Mr Gillan who tactfully got a fan who wouldn’t let go up on stage rather than have a tug of war with his arm – well done sir!

Great gig; hope they get to thoughtfully mine the back catalogue – it brought a freshness to their playing and they were obviously enjoying themselves.